First Kiss
by StormWolf10
Summary: 15 year old Donna Noble, failing at maths, is given a maths tutor. A somewhat geeky guy who she knows Nerys would tease to no end. But is Donna willing to give him a chance? (not AU)


**A/N: First in the Noble 'verse, read and review!**

Donna Noble was jerked from her daydream by her maths teacher, Mr Hughes, leaning over her desk.

"Miss Noble, seeing as you feel you don't need to listen to me, can you please tell the class just how to find the circumference of a circle?" he asked, eyebrow arched.

Donna blinked.

"Measure it with a ruler?" she asked.

The class sniggered around her, and Donna felt heat rising in her cheeks. Mr Hughes looked far from impressed.

"Miss Noble, please remain behind at the end of the lesson," Mr Hughes sighed, before addressing the entirety of the class. "Now, for homework, I expect pages 72 and 73 in your textbooks to be completed by Thursday."

The class groaned, and almost as soon as the bell had gone, signalling the end of class, they were up and out the door. Donna remained, slouched in her chair, glaring at the times tables poster on the wall.

"Donna," Mr Hughes sighed, sitting on the desk in the row in front of Donna's, "you really need to pay attention in these classes. I know you're struggling with this work, but that's even more of a reason to concentrate!"

Donna didn't respond, and Mr Hughes shifted slightly, clearly impatient.

"I'm going to ask someone from the top set to tutor you after school," he told her.

At Donna's protesting glare, he held his hand up to stop her.

"No arguments please, Miss Noble. I've already discussed it with your parents, and they've agreed that it's for the best. Now, a lovely young boy called Arnold Elmer has agreed to tutor you. He'll meet you every Thursday in the school library after school."

Donna tried not to pull a face. She was sure Arnold Elmer was a lovely boy, really, but he was teased across the year group; he was a maths geek, wore glasses, dressed weirdly. The last thing Donna needed was Nerys and her friends seeing her with Arnold Elmer.

"Donna?" Mr Hughes prompted. "So you'll meet with Arnold on Thursday after school?"

She nodded mutely, grabbing her back and sliding from the chair.

**~StormWolf10~**

She felt sick. God knew what would happen if Nerys caught her with Arnold Elmer. On the plus side, Nerys had gymnastics on a Thursday. On another plus side, Nerys rarely strayed into the school library, and when she did it usually meant she was lost. With a deep breath, Donna stepped into the library, looking around. It was mostly empty, only a few desperate or eager kids remaining after hours; the desperate ones looking worried as they pored over textbooks, while the eager ones sat with a stack of books, happily reading. One kid was even chatting away to the librarian. And then, Donna's eyes alighted on her tutor. Arnold Elmer, a skinny boy not much taller than her, brown curly hair sticking up all over the place. He wore a pair of NHS glasses with tape on one arm to hold them together. As he caught sight of her, he waved eagerly, and Donna groaned. No turning back now. Somewhat reluctantly, Donna made her way through the library, past shelves of books, to the desk Arnold was sat at.

"Hi!" Arnold greeted enthusiastically, pushing himself to his feet. He was the living embodiment of the clumsy geek stereotype, Donna realised, as the boy tripped over the chair leg in his haste to stand. "You must be Donna!"

Donna smiled, praying it wasn't a grimace, and shook Arnold's outstretched hand. Then, she slid into the seat opposite Arnold as he reclaimed his seat. They sat in awkward silence for several long moments.

"Mr Hughes said you've been struggling with maths," Arnold said after a few moments.

Donna snorted, and Arnold frowned.

"'_Struggling'_," Donna responded tiredly, "is a bit of an understatement." She paused, and sighed. "I have no idea what's being said in class, everyone else seems to understand, but I just don't get it!"

Arnold blinked at her owlishly from behind his NHS glasses. Donna stared at the ceiling, refusing to meet the boy's gaze.

"Well," Arnold said after a few moments, pausing to push his glasses further up his nose, "good thing you've got me, then."

The boy broke into an unexpected grin, and Donna blinked. And then, before she could find her voice, Arnold was dragging a large textbook out of his bag, thumbing through the pages.

"Where should we start?"

**~StormWolf10~**

Weeks later, Donna wouldn't admit it to Nerys or any of her horrid friends, but she was beginning to enjoy the after-school lessons with Arnold. As expected, the boy was very friendly and nice, and- surprisingly- made Donna laugh. Still, wouldn't do to have rumours spread about them. Slowly, Donna's maths skills were improving. She'd all but cracked the basic algebra skills under Arnold's tuition, and was growing in confidence. Her grades were improving too, which was somewhat of a relief. She'd grown to like Arnold really, Donna realised, and surprisingly enjoyed their time together. But it wasn't until much later that Donna realised she'd maybe let things get out of hand.

"The weather's getting warmer, you know," Arnold announced one day when Donna took a seat at their usual table in the library. "Thought we could spend today outside."

Donna nodded, smiling slightly. Anything to get out of the stuffy library. So, they gathered their notepads, pens and bags, and headed outside to the field. With summer approaching, they only had a few weeks left until the end of term, and if Donna wanted to get into a decent maths set for her final year at school, she'd have to concentrate more than ever during her lessons with Arnold. Speaking of Arnold, Donna suddenly became very aware that the boy was staring at her. She blinked, and met his gaze. The boy blushed, and looked away quickly. Somewhat confused, Donna let it slide.

**~StormWolf10~**

The next week, rain drove Donna and Arnold back inside the library. They sat huddled at their usual table, wet coats on the back of their chairs as they pored over maths sums. But Donna couldn't help but notice Arnold was staring more at her than the maths book. Finally, she'd had enough. With a sigh, she slammed her biro down and glared at the teenager.

"What?" she asked him in annoyance. "Do I have something on my face? Is that why you keep staring?!"

Arnold blinked, swallowed, and shook his head. Donna grit her teeth.

"Then why," she asked, growing more and more annoyed, "do you keep staring?!"

Again, Arnold just stared. Donna huffed.

"Arnold, what-"

But the rest of her sentence was cut off as Arnold darted forward suddenly, capturing Donna's lips in his own. The first thought that entered Donna's mind was that she was glad they were the only ones in the library. The second thought that entered Donna's mind was that Arnold Elmer was kissing her. He was kissing _her_. Donna Noble. That fact startled her a little, and she pulled away abruptly. She immediately felt bad at the look of hurt on Arnold's face, but he seemed to recover quickly, stuttering out an apology.

"I… I'm sorry, I just… I thought…" Arnold began, wide-eyed. Then, he sighed. "I thought that you liked me. That we could go out some time. But I obviously got it wrong."

Donna blinked.

"Are… Are you asking me on a date?" she asked uncertainly.

Arnold blushed, and that was all the answer Donna needed.

"Saturday?"

Arnold blinked, frowned and looked up at her.

"Saturday for what?" he asked in confusion.

Donna smiled slightly.

"Well, don't tell me you've forgotten you've asked me out already!" she told Arnold with a small smile.

Arnold frowned again.

"You don't have to do this, Donna," he told her quietly.

"Do what?" Donna countered, her own brow furrowing.

"Go out with me because you feel bad," the boy responded, glaring at the maths book in front of him.

"I'm not," Donna countered. Arnold didn't look up, and Donna somewhat tentatively laid a hand on the boy's arm. "Arnold, I'm agreeing because I like you. You're a nice guy."

The boy looked up slowly, watching her carefully.

"So you're not doing it because you feel sorry for me?" he asked.

Donna smiled and shook her head. There was silence.

"Look," Donna said after a few moments, "I'd better get going now, Mum will be expecting me home for dinner. But," she reached for a biro, scribbling her home phone number on a scrap of paper and pushing it towards Arnold, "this is my house number. Give me a ring, we'll arrange a time, yeah?"

Arnold nodded soundlessly, apparently unable to believe his luck. With a small smile, Donna grabbed her school bag and made her way out of the library. She had a date. With a boy. A real boy. Ok, the boy wasn't on the football team, and Nerys wouldn't be jealous, but she, Donna Noble, had a real date with a real boy. She grinned to herself as she made her way out of the school. And then, it hit her. She'd just had her first kiss. With an even bigger smile, and a spring in her step, Donna made her way out the school gate and down the road to her house.


End file.
